There are some instances where travel agents can travel for free, but for the most part they do come out of their pocket. Below are three instances where travel agents can rack up extra savings and put money back into their pockets.
I will share my savings experience as a home-based agent, which has caused me to save hundreds of dollars!
Get Paid on Retail or Sale Pricing
When I travel as an insider, I get paid when I book travel for myself (and of course I get paid when I do it for others). The price I pay could be the same as any one that is not part of the industry, the difference would be I get a check and you don’t! Commissions are already built-into the price of what you see online or what your travel agent quote you already has the commissions built-in. (they are never in addition to price quoted, if you are told extra fees need to be added to cover commission… run)
Travel at Net or Wholesale Pricing
Now, if I decide that I want to travel at a lower cost and forgo my commission, I still have to pay the net cost, I just would not get paid for the trip. You can get travel at great bargains if you travel this way!
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Are you thinking of becoming a home-based travel agent? And are you considering a travel agent course to help you learn how to do it?
If so, this could be the most important article you’ll ever read because it can save you thousands of dollars and prevent you from making some costly mistakes at the beginning of your career.
Mistake #1: Don’t think you don’t need any travel agent training.
Yes, yes, you can learn the business in the “school of hard knocks. That’s what I did and it cost me several thousand dollars in dumb mistakes before I figured it all out.
Of course, when I got started, way back when, there weren’t a lot of options out there. That’s not true today.
There are a growing number of options available to you, which is both good and bad. Good because you have choice, bad because you run the risk of becoming confused and making some of the following mistakes.
Mistake # 2: Don’t pay for training you don’t need.
Many travel schools and travel agent training programs offer a lot of what I’d call “padding.” That’s because many of these courses were vocational programs for high school grads that needed to prove themselves to state academic accreditation boards.
But you’re not a kid. You’re a grown up who wants to start a business.
What you need – and it’s worth paying for – is inside information on how the business works. Surprisingly enough, not many travel schools teach that.
Mistake # 3: Don’t get GDS training – yet.
A GDS, or “global distribution system,” is a computerized booking tool that is used primarily to book and sell cheap, point-to-point airline tickets.
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